Editorial: Proposition 2: Vote yes for a smart way to help the homeless

In 2004, California voters approved Proposition 63, which added a 1 percent tax on the income of those making more than $1 million a year to provide funds for mental health programs. This tax has since generated up to $2.5 billion a year. But a state audit released in February noted that the funds are often stashed by the local governments that share Proposition 63’s windfall, and that when the money is used, it’s spent without adequate state oversight. The audit recommended state guidelines to make sure the funds are actually being used in sound ways to promote mental health.

This backdrop helped prompt the Legislature to place Proposition 2 on the Nov. 6 ballot. It would authorize the state to use Proposition 63 revenue — about $120 million a year — to pay off $2 billion in new revenue bonds for homelessness prevention housing for those in need of mental health services. The measure recognizes that mental illness is a key part of the homeless problem in California and creates a path to constructing 20,000 permanent supportive housing units. It imposes no new taxes and doesn’t require any additional dollars going forward from the general fund.

Proposition 2 has its critics. Some mental health officials think it amounts to a costly, inferior alternative to other strategies to deal with homelessness. But it has far more supporters than detractors in the mental health community and enjoys wide bipartisan and institutional support, including from the California Chamber of the Commerce.

An argument can be made that it might have been wiser to have a ballot measure that revised Proposition 63 to both fund revenue bonds for homeless housing and to force smarter use of its tax proceeds on mental health needs. But on balance, this measure is constructive public policy with little apparent downside. Vote yes on Proposition 2.